By Azhar Siddique
The long-awaited Rawalpindi Ring Road Project, a scheme that is a harbinger of a new era of development and prosperity in the region, is going to be launched soon as all the arrangements are being finalized and the Punjab Government has released Rs 6.7 billion in funds for the acquisition of the land.
There will also be an economic corridor to boost the local and regional economy by establishing an industrial zone and commercial and business hubs.
The objective behind constructing the Ring Road is to improve economic connectivity and road transport efficiency in the twin cities, Rawalpindi-Islamabad, by constructing a ring road and associated facilities.
The Ring Road project was initiated in 1991 by the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) but couldn’t be executed for a long time.
In 2008, a fresh feasibility study was conducted to construct the road from Channi Sher Alam to Fatehjang near the New Islamabad Airport through foreign investors on the basis of private-public partnership. In that plan, the RDA made changes by reducing the total length of the road from 75km to 54km.
It also dropped the idea of laying a rail track along the road to connect the main railway lines with the new airport. The changes were made to reduce the project cost.
The Punjab government has added 10 new commercial and residential zones in the Rawalpindi Ring Road Project Economic Corridor (RRPEC). The government has released the plan of the Rawalpindi Ring Road project after approval.
A dry port equipped with modern facilities, a state of the art hospital and an international expo centre along with the establishment of fruit and vegetable wholesale markets, goods and public transport terminals and cattle markets will be the part of the project. The farmers will also have direct access to the market.
According to Commissioner Rawalpindi Division, Capt. ® Mohammad Mehmood, the CM had approved the project to ease traffic congestion and boost economic activity in the region. The authorities concerned had also been directed to begin the project as soon as possible, he added.
The Punjab government has released Rs 6.7 million for land acquisition, and the work to acquire the land will start after the approval from the Board of Revenue, he said.
The PC-I for land acquisition for package one of the Ring Road project had been approved, he said, adding it would cost Rs6.7bn to acquire land for the portion of the road from the GT Road to Hakla interchange, which was known as package one. Around 14,600 kanals of land would be acquired in 27 villages, he said.
The commissioner said the road would take two and a half years to complete. Package two, from the Motorway to Sangjani, would connect to a ring road in Islamabad.
Land for the road connecting Margalla Avenue would be acquired by the RDA and Capital Development Authority (CDA). Education and health zones would include a hospital, colleges, and universities, while recreational zones would boost tourism along with the establishment of a modern theme park, he said.
Its design speed is 120 km, and the travel time from Tarnol to Rawat for cars is estimated to be an hour and 14 minutes and more than two hours for trucks with an average speed of 50km.
Rehabilitation schemes would be provided with site allocation, which would reduce the chaotic spread of urban population as much as possible and provide housing facilities at all levels.
Landfill sites would also be identified under a section of the bay where solid waste management and dumping sites will also help in keeping the area clean.
Mohammad Mahmood said that the owners of the land to be acquired would be compensated and paid an amount according to the market rate.
Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) Chairman Tariq Murtaza said that the 65.6km long Ring Road would have six lanes on each side like the motorway.
The service roads would also be constructed along the main road, while RDA would plant 0.15 million saplings on the entire route of the signal-free corridor.
Murtaza said that the project would have interchanges at eight different locations, including Radio Pakistan, Rawat, Chak Beli, Adyala, Chakri, M2 Mor, Islamabad International Airport (IIA), and Sangjani, while residential zones would be established along Sangjani, Adiala, Chakri, and Chak Beli interchanges.
He said that the federal government had approved the establishment of two new dry ports, one in Punjab and the other in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Of these, one would be established near Rawat on the Ring Road.
